(Magic Happens and a night parade are the most likely announcements. It’s a near-certainty that Disneyland Resort will get at least one parade, and possibly two, in 2023. Fantasmic should get a return date at Walt Disney World. Regardless of recaps, there actually is a lot happening on the entertainment front. That really depends on how many actual new additions there are to announce and whether they need to kill time. This may or may not be the culmination of an emotional montage highlighting how far the parks have come since reopening. One of the safer bets is that the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products panel will feature a segment about new and returning entertainment. I am waiting with baited breath just like everyone else.Īnyway, here are the announcements I think we can expect at the 2022 D23 Expo… Entertainment Encore! I have no clue what will be announced and am not trying to present this as a scoop. They’re definitely not credible predictions, informed reporting, or even what I want to see announced–just what I think will happen. With that said, these are all just fun speculation. Here’s hoping that’s wrong, and my expectations are unnecessarily low. Meaning that this year’s slate of news will not be on par with 2017. Nevertheless, I’m coming at this from the perspective that the aforementioned ramping up is still a work in progress, and a lot of specifics won’t yet be ready to share. (All lessons learned back in 2009, proving yet again that history repeats itself!) This coupled with Wall Street souring on streaming (at least a bit) means Disney may finally start to bet bigger on its theme parks. Disney’s theme park business continues to outperform, and investors have begun to take notice of its success. ![]() On top of that, the travel industry is proving surprisingly resilient. With that project cycle now wrapping up–and no longer contributing to CapEx numbers–it will soon be time to start the next development phase. The last time that occurred was the 2017 D23 Expo, which revealed a huge slate of additions, most of which have now come to fruition. It’s unclear what this means or where the spending will occur (another new cruise ship and relocated corporate offices will also factor into it), but there are necessarily more unannounced projects in the pipeline in order for that to be true.Ī big slate of announcements at the 2022 D23 Expo would thus make some degree of sense. She said that investments would be ramping back up after being turned down the last two years. In the latest quarterly results, Disney revealed that capital expenditures (CapEx) increased from $2.5 billion to $3.8 billion–the company revealed that this was primarily due to higher spending at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.ĭuring the earnings call Q&A, Disney’s CFO reiterated plans to invest even more in its theme parks. Since cutting back park investments during the closure and subsequent downturn, the company has been ramping up projects once again. On the other hand, there’s also reason for cautious optimism. ![]() ![]() It’s difficult to fault fans for not getting excited about projects announced this year that will maybe be built and could open by 2027. This is a cloned roller coaster inside a mostly empty warehouse that was announced 5 years ago. One of the things we might get at the 2022 D23 Expo is an opening date for TRON Lightcycle Run. Others are still happening, but are taking forever to be built. Projects that were announced at the last D23 Expo have been delayed indefinitely or quietly cancelled. ![]() Many have had their enthusiasm for all things Walt Disney World and Disneyland tempered over the course of the last two years due to cutbacks, price increases, project cancellations, and the generally slow pace of everything. When it comes to this year’s D23 Expo, fans are divided–and understandably so. This post seeks to separate the credible from the wishful thinking, with our predictions for what’ll actually be announced in terms of returning entertainment, new attractions, overhauls, and expansion. The 2022 D23 Expo is only days away, and rumors are flying about what’ll be announced for Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
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